Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-02-04
FORCED TO BURY HIM.
MRs. VAN AuKEws CONFESSION OF
HHR HUSBANDS MURDER.
Che Says she Concealed the cut.up Besy to
Save Her Life Dramatic
Deathbed story.


Harriet Van Auken, has been paying
the penalty for more than nine years in
the Onnndago pcnitentiary. Mrs. Van
Auken lies tonight on a cot in the hos
pital at that institution, hourly expect
ing death. Besides an aggravated at
tack Of dropsy and rheumatism, she
hiss suffered from two tumors. AsIong
effort has been made to get Governor
Hill to pardon her The World corre-
pondent visited the penitentiary to-
day and was allowed to converse with
her. When spoken TO about the par.
don sought for she said that she had
hoped that the Governor would grent
the pardon so that she could be taken
20 her sisters house, in Limerick, JET
fcrson county, 10 die. sunless he
sends IL soon, - she said, cit will be too
late. for tie cancer has but little more
work to do. / have written my sister
10 come and see me die"
"Would YOU object to telling all that
Won know of the murder for which yOu
were convicted ?" was asked.
For moment she seemed lost IN
contemplation and her lips moved as II
In prayer. Then she said "There has
been 30 much printed about me that Is
not true that / don't know who to trust
with the story that would tell. " Again
she meditated and finally asked Deputy
Superintendent Hawley his opinion OF
revealing her story of the crime. With
Mr.. Hawley's favorable answer she con-
scented, and all vacated the room except
the reporter.
"There are just two persons in this
world" she began, "who know the
story from my lips. My lawyer and u
priest are those persons. Darius Van
Auken was my last husband. In the
summer of 1877 he left our home at
West Monroe. 0swego county, and
went to visit at BoylSsOn. When he
came home If was late at night, and
that night Loren Grover hada valuable
heifer killed. Ny husband heard a few
days afterwards that Grover suspected
him of killing the heifer. In three
or four weeks Grover came to
our house. My husband saw him
coming and ran out the door and
listened. Grover said, Where's your
man. ! told him that he had just
gone ont the door, and he said: I've
come to get the pay for my heifer he
killed the other night Then he called
Mr.. Van Auken names, and kept on do
ing that till my husband got 50 mad
that he came in and ordered Grover out
of the house. Grover said that he
wouldn't go. So my husband cliDched
him to put him out. Outside the door
there was an axe. Grover saw II and
caught it up and struck my husband on
the head. Ny husband fell to the floor,
md he seemed dead Then he opened
Ms ewes, and | heard him say: Hat,
revenge my death. When he saw that
nv husband was not dead, Grover took
ont his revolver and shot him three
times in the head. Then he put the re-
volver against my head and said, Make
npyour mind TO die, for If l leave you,
YOU will tell of me- He made me get
down on my knees and swear that !
would never reveal what l had seen.
Then he made me stand IL the door
and keep watch while he cut my hus-
bands head off with an axe. ] nearly
tainted away, and when he saw me lean
against the decrease, he said: Faint,
- youl that's what want you to do,
and will put you where he is. After
that / didn't dare to look around. l
heard him keep cutting up my hus-
bands body. In some minutes he
asked me if / knew where there were
any bags, and / told him theret were
some at the head of the stairs. He went
up and got two bags and put the pieces
in. When he had finished he came up
to me and said, Harriet, want you
TO bury these sacks l said, L can't
do it. He said Then die, and he took
the revolver again and put it against
my head, and / thought he would kill
me sure. / told him I could not bury
my husbands body, and he replied;
'1hen why don't you get your boy to
do it E? The hoy he spoke of was about
eighteen years old, and worked on
farm about mile away. He made me
hitch the horse to go after the boy, and
be went home. When / drove by his
house he put a spade in the wagon and
told me what to say to the boy and
where to have the bags buried.
1.-THE boy was not as bright as some,
and easily convinced him that it was
all night to bury the bags, and he didn't
know what was in them. In piece of
woods about three miles from our house
the boy got out and dug hole by the
side of tree and buried the bags. The
next day Grover came to the house. He
had the revolver. He said: What a
fool was to leave you living There
is one thing you have got to promise or
/ will kill you yet, and that Is that you
let me have the full use of your
property just as though it was mine. >
So | had to promise all that. Grover
used to be over to my house a good
deal and wanted nae to sell myprOperty
and run away With him. He had four
or five hundred dollars of his fathers
that he was keeping for him, and he
said he would take that if i would
run away. told him L couldn't sell,
ms nobody wanted to buy. He began
getting dangerous, and had my oldest
sister-she is dead now--come to stay
with me, because he threatened me so
was afraid. Itmade him madden still
because she came, and then he began
throwing hints about my husbands
disappearance, and one day Constable
Joseph Crannell, of Boyleston, came
and arrested me. They took me to
Parish, but couldn't find anything
against me and let me go. That made
Grover 70 mad that he again began
talking about il, and said that he could
find where my husband was buried. A
week later Constable Dennis, OF Parish,
arrested me and put me in Jail. Then
Grover got out a lot Of men and
searched and found where my husband
was buried. OF course they then
accused me of numbering him and
cutting him to pieces. The rest can
be told by my presence here. was
divorced from my first husband year
after we parted, Then | married Mr.
Van Auken. He was twenty-five years
cid and was twenty.four ] never
had cross word with MIN in the three
years that We were married. / had
money and he hadn't any. / used to
clothe him, and do il well, too. Surely
] must have thought something OF him
to do this. My husband was a good